Cornwall Ontario – After the City of Cornwall’s supposed “Final” offer was rejected by CUPE both sides are back at the table today according to a CUPE release which hinted that the city needed to work with the Union to find a solution.
Sources say that the City has no choice but to capitulate and simply negotiate the back pay and moving forward pay. IE the length of the contract and raises, and drop the clawback of short leave benefits.
An insider said that CUPE most likely will go easy on the city as they’ve essentially won this humiliation that Geoff Clarke and Maureen Adams foisted on Cornwall that its council is taking the heat for.
Some are questioning the lack of leadership by council. The mayor has not been heard from and neither councilors like David Murphy who has already put his papers in to run for mayor.
What is known is that at the last in camera meeting according to Andre Rivette. who stated he was the only vote against the clawback, that David Murphy, Elaine MacDonald, Carilyne Hebert, Claude McIntosh, Bernadette Clement, and Denis Carr voted to keep the clawback of short term leave dosh. Justin “One Term” Towndale, Mark MacDonald, and Maurice Dupelle were not present. Rivette did not state whether the Mayor had voted or not?
While city lawyers most likely warned council to not release minutiae of negotiations, clearly there seems to be a gross lack of leadership by elected officials that has led to this strike and situation that in the end will probably cost taxpayers millions in a year where we’ve seen record tax increases.
The City has still not issued a release since the rejection of their final offer to CUPE.
There has been no leadership from council from day 1 the monkeys sat around the horseshoe. We have a mayor who campaigned on helping whistleblowers and 1 of the first things he did was throw Diane Shay under the bus. The city has no option than to withdraw the sick leave clawback and move on the agreed upon money issues. The hikes aren’t great, but a little better than I got in my pension, COLA.
Cornwall has become a sad state of affairs! It truly is a bleeping joke!